Pre-prohibition cocktails and modern twists on classics

MxMo: Anise Roundup

Happy Holidays! Time to wrap up MxMo: Anise. To be honest, I was a little nervous that we wouldn’t get a great turnout given how busy folks are this time of year. Wow was I wrong! Lot’s of great posts, tons of creative uses of Anise. Strong work! From riffs on Sazeracs to Anise cream coffee, from standbys like Absinthe to more “exotic” stuff like Raki, we definitely have no shortage of awesome anise flavored drinks to warm us up this winter.

OK, time to quit babbling about how great you guys are, let’s get down to business.

Beryl #2

This beautifully colored concoction comes from Christopher over at Drinkshouts and features 2 sources of anise flavor: Pernod and Green Chartreuse as well as a Gin and Vodka combo with some Celery Bitters. I like the combo of the herbal and anise flavors with celery bitters. Well done!

My buddy Chris at A Bar Above brings us Winter in Kentucky, a Manhattan riff featuring bourbon, Carpano Antica vermouth, Cardamaro and home made Anise Bitters. Sounds delicious! Head over there to learn about making your own bitters.

Venetian Carnival

Love that name! Swizzzlestick also worked in a few sources of Anise in this Raki and egg liqueur based drink with a Black Sambuca and Vodka float. Great garnish.

Dorian Gray, no. 2

Laura at Sass & Gin has found anise tough to work with in the past, but rallied hard, bringing us a twofer this month. The first is Dorian Gray, no. 2, a variation on one of her previous successes, this time featuring Pear Cognac, Absinthe, Meyer lemon juice and Demerara syrup with a cucumber garnish. Awesome! Be sure to check out her original Dorian Gray as well.

Joel at Southern Ash choose Ouzo for the anise flavor, accented with Apple Pie Arkansas Lightning, Cointreau, Aperol and orange bitters. As many know, sometimes the hardest part is naming the drink, but Joel hit the nail on the head with this one.

Absinthe Drip

The man that keeps this thing going, Fred Yarm over at Cocktail Virgin Slut, reminds us that sometimes taking a step back and making something classic and simple is a great way to go. An absinthe drip is always usually a great choice!

Far Afield

The folks at Booze Nerds also brought us a twofer this month. The first is Far Afield, with licorice infused rum, Benedictine and blackberry liqueur.

Kentucky Star

Round 2 from Booze Nerds is Kentucky Star. This one features Star Anise infused hot chocolate and bourbon and is sure to warm you up on a cold winter day.

Anise Cream Coffee

Elana at Stir and Strain continues the warmer portion of the roundup with this tasty treat. Rather than infuse the coffee or the rye in this one, Elana chose to make an Anise cream, which also has a bit of vanilla in it (awesome). Props for creativity and for giving us another way to warm up and still get our anise fix.

The Peg Leg Punch

Tartines to Tikis brings us more variety in this months theme with a great punch. This one brings the anise with Krogstad Aquavit and features vodka, grapefruit juice and lemon juice with some orgeat to sweeten things up. Love the mint garnish. I can only imagine how good this one must smell with the anise, mint and citrus accents. Whip this up in advance and wow some guests over the holidays.

Winterfall

Christopher Bevins posted this tasty Sazerac riff with Apple Brandy and Galliano. Definitely gonna have to try this one over the holidays.

Estrella de Oaxaca

The Shorter Straw worked in some mezcal into their anise flavored concoction (in the form of Absinthe). This one also has maraschino, lemon juice, Moscovado simple syrup and celery bitters to round it out. Very creative and I bet the combo of anise, mezcal and celery flavors is great stuff. Btw, congrats to Raffaele for getting one step closer to opening his own place!

The Hot Stick

Kristen Rose went with Sambuca for her anise laced entry. This one is based on the Haribo candy of the same name, which Kristen says you can make “Naughty” or “Nice” depending on whether you use her Jalepeno and Cilantro infused Vodka in it (how could you not want to try that??). Other highlights include ginger beer and orange juice with a cinnamon garnish. While a cold drink, this one will surely warm you up this winter.

Armadillo Toddy

Another warm one, the Armadillo Toddy from A Drink with ForresT uses Mate with Mezcal and a Columbian anise liqueur, Aguardiente. Lemon juice and honey round this one out. I’m a big fan of Mate and love everything about this, especially the Central and South American ingredients. Strong work!

Sazerac

Bartending Notes brings us another riff on the Sazerac, this time subbing in the excellent Ron Zacapa 23 rum for rye. To those that haven’t tried it, this rum is awesome and can really stand in for whiskey in many drinks.

Cheshire Cat

Scott over at Shake, Strain and Sip brings us an awesome “Anise” in Wonderland inspired creation, Cheshire Cat. This one uses Absinthe with Genever, Rose Vermouth, Creme Yvette and lime juice. Such an interesting combination of ingredients, which alone makes me think of a tripped out, psychedelic wonderland. Masterfully done, sir.

The Royal Sazerac

Putney Farm always has something amazing to bring to the table for these and this MxMo is no exception. Landing somewhere between a Sazerac and a Seelbach Cocktail, this one utilizes absinthe, rye, champagne, Angostura and Peychaud’s bitters. Keep this in your back pocket for New Year’s Eve.

Tango ’til They’re Sore

DrunkLab brings us a trifecta of drinks. Tango ’til They’re Sore shares most of it’s ingredient list with the Redhook, but that is where the similarities end. Packing a whopping punch of Peychaud’s for it’s anise component, this one is my kinda drink. Good stuff.

The third one from Drunklab doesn’t have a picture but is a delicious sounding polyneasian treat called Dr. Funke. This one contains a hefty dose of absinthe, rum, and the usual suspects, blue curaçao, lime juice, swedish punsch and orgeat.

Golden Glider

Feu de Vie skates in with her comic inspired Golden Glider and a variation called Golden Glider Eclipso. The former features rum, Galliano, lemon juice, champagne and barrel aged orange bitters. This one is served over orange blossom water infused ice cubes.

The later, pictured above, ditches the champagne and adds some absinthe, a dash of Campari or Gran Classico and a black sambuca ice cube. Head over to her site to get your anise fix(es) and to learn more about the inspiration for these drinks.

Tiki master JFL at Rated R Cocktails keeps his hot tiki theme going with some holiday grog. This one features a variety of citrus peels, spices (including anise), both anejo and high test rum, coffee and of course Colonel Minty’s Grog batter. Awesome!

We’re in the home stretch. Lastly are my entries for the month (which I might have gotten carried away with). The first was The Handy Bird: Cognac, Rye, Dry Curacao with some anise from Hair of the Dog bitters and an absinthe rinse. For fans of Sazeracs and the like.

A Nise One

Leaving the whiskey behind, A Nise One was focused on anise flavors and herbs. This one used Absinthe, Genepy, a trifecta of Chartreuse, and some barrel aged Genever to round it out.

The Fixer

Time to lighten up the anise with The Fixer. This one is more of a Martini/Martinez type cocktail with floral NOLET’s gin, dry curaçao and maraschino with a Scotch rinse and some Elixir Vegetal for the anise component.

From A to B

And finally, we have From A to B. This one is for the bitter lovers out there with Malort and Campari being the main ingredients. absinthe, Fernet-Branca, a gin/rye combo and a hefty serving of hopped grapefruit bitters round it out.

That concludes another awesome Mixology Monday. Thanks to everyone for participating and for Fred Yarm for keeping this thing alive. I had a blast and I hope you all did too!